Does she have any projects to post here?
I also have an MSEE and looked for coding jobs. I only had one finished website* but it was good enough to get some responses and a few interviews.
Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
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Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#22Folks, thanks a lot for all your comments. Let me try to respond to some questions that were raised:
She has a LinkedIn profile, with relevant skills highlighted.
She is not active on Github yet - that will be her focus now. She was focusing on sites like HackerRank and CodeEval so far.
If she finishes any projects, we will definitely post it to HN for feedback.
We are trying to find more “back to work” sort of programs - a lot of banks seem to have them, but the cutoff date for applications seemed to be the end of last year.
We do have friends working in the industry, but most are at large companies where it’s hard to bypass HR and go to the team required, or companies where hiring is currently frozen, and so on..
We are going to try to find Hiring Managers to talk to or have a coffee with - if any of you guys are looking to hire an highly competent Python/Java programmer down on her luck, or would just like to talk, she’d love to talk to you over coffee anywhere in the Bay Area. Please send me an email at (username) at gmail if you'd like to talk.
It’s great to see the support and advice from everyone here. Really, thank you.
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure why whether I do work for free and in my spare time is a good gauge of programmer ability or that they're a desirable hire. You wouldn't judge a mechanical engineer by whether they've built a car in their spare time, or an accountant by whether they spend their spare time doing accounting. Some of us have lives outside of work, and like to spend our spare time away from a computer. I spend 9 hours a day…
I was job hunting recently and I can confirm this. Work as a developer at a previous company is better than work in the open (side project) and work in the open is better than work you can't show, and some experience is better than no experience (but having raw intelligence, willingness to learn, enthusiasm). Then, even if the work is in the open you have to sell it to them. At one interview I didn't feel very well s…
If you're in Hungary and know ruby and/or JS then give me a shout!
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was job hunting recently and I can confirm this. Work as a developer at a previous company is better than work in the open (side project) and work in the open is better than work you can't show, and some experience is better than no experience (but having raw intelligence, willingness to learn, enthusiasm). Then, even if the work is in the open you have to sell it to them. At one interview I didn't feel very well s…
If you're in Hungary and know ruby and/or JS then give me a shout!
Thanks, I appreciate it! I'm from Romania and I did get a job. Not the one I really, really wanted but the one that came after a few interviews when my interviewing skill got better.
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#25Folks, thanks a lot for all your comments. Let me try to respond to some questions that were raised: She has a LinkedIn profile, with relevant skills highlighted. She is not active on Github yet - that will be her focus now. She was focusing on sites like HackerRank and CodeEval so far. If she finishes any projects, we will definitely post it to HN for feedback. We are trying to find more “back to work” sort of progr…
Just a final bit of advice: most people would not look to hire someone "down on their luck". An optimistic and enthusiastic attitude certainly helps.
Her stance should not be "I'm a great programmer but have not been given the chance to prove myself". It should be "I'm a great programmer who wants to save your company millions of dollars." Or even something like "I am happiest when writing code, but I'd rather be paid to do it."
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#26Folks, thanks a lot for all your comments. Let me try to respond to some questions that were raised: She has a LinkedIn profile, with relevant skills highlighted. She is not active on Github yet - that will be her focus now. She was focusing on sites like HackerRank and CodeEval so far. If she finishes any projects, we will definitely post it to HN for feedback. We are trying to find more “back to work” sort of progr…
highly competent Python/Java programmer down on her luck
As a sibling poster has said, never ever ever ever talk like this. In particular, don't talk like this in 2016 in the Bay Area, which is approximately the best time and place to ever be a developer. Your wife should present herself as a confident professional with substantial programming skills who is looking for a career change into software development.
n.b. That transition is not as smooth as changing between dev jobs, but practically speaking after she's gotten one software development position under her belt this conversation gets very, very easy in the future.
In the current environment clueful employers should be foaming-at-the-mouth rabidly enthusiastic to make your wife's acquaintance. Coding bootcamp graduates with minimal technical background, ~12 weeks of Rails training, and no related professional experience are hireable in Bay Area right now.
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#27Just my statistics: I don't have a valid working visa in the US and have been applying almost exclusively to American companies. My "interview" rate is 10%. 100% if it's with people I know, even if I'm completely unqualified. My "rejection" rate is around 50%, within 2 weeks. I assume the rest won't say anything if they reject. General job sites (the ones where you can also apply to be a carpenter, etc) are a waste o…
If you feel unworthy
Don't. Feel. Unworthy. Any person capable of programming their way out of a paper bag is someone every hiring manager in the Bay Area urgently wants to meet right now. If you're hirable at their firm that's fantastic, if not they'll chalk it up to "I now know one more engineer who I can keep tabs on over the course of the next few years and potentially place in the future."
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#28All in all, she’s probably applied to 100+ companies over the last 6 months, but she hasn’t received a single call back. Your wife should consider sending in an unsolicited resume to be a no-op and, instead, start meeting people who either a) are hiring managers or b) can refer her to hiring managers. Her goal in achieving connection with the hiring manager is to secure a coffee date or other informal conversation. H…
Did you write your Twitter posts before, or after, this comment? :)
You say this so succinctly there. I used to think it was all about the resume. It's actually one of the least effective ways to apply for work.
One other thing to consider doing... offer to work for free (or reduced pay, where laws prohibit free work) for a short period of time. It lets them see what you can do, and removes much of the risk.
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#29It seems like her H-4 EAD status might give some employers pause. First it is tied to your H-1B if I understand correctly, so if your status changes she could become unable to work. Not to mention if you decide to move to another country. Consider that her explicit status is that of a dependent, which gives a potential employer the signal that she is a "trailing spouse" meaning for her to stay with the company she no…
Curious what you mean by "a dollar a dozen?" I thought that the demand for developers in SV was high right now, and a master's in EE with coding experience would also be in high demand.
It seems like the reason she's not getting phone calls is more because she doesn't have a portfolio, not that her skills are so common that they're negligible.
Re: Ask HN: Getting back to the tech industry after a three-year break
#30It seems like her H-4 EAD status might give some employers pause. First it is tied to your H-1B if I understand correctly, so if your status changes she could become unable to work. Not to mention if you decide to move to another country. Consider that her explicit status is that of a dependent, which gives a potential employer the signal that she is a "trailing spouse" meaning for her to stay with the company she no…
Curious what you mean by "a dollar a dozen?" I thought that the demand for developers in SV was high right now, and a master's in EE with coding experience would also be in high demand. It seems like the reason she's not getting phone calls is more because she doesn't have a portfolio, not that her skills are so common that they're negligible.
A foreigner with MS from a US school but prior from a foreign school which as far as we know isn't a famous heavy hitter like Physics in Moscow. Minimal work experience. I said dollar a dozen after some consideration. There is some substance there but it simply isn't standing out relative to a thousand other candidates. More work experience will help, hence the contract suggestion.